Monday, September 8, 2014

Cute Pig Face Breads | Piglet Buns For Kids

Who doesn't like homemade breads? I love the fresh smell of hot breads when taken out from hot oven. My son likes to eat breads when he returns from his school, so one fine day I thought of making these cute little pig face breads. Needless to say how happy he was ! These are very easy to follow, I made few piglet buns the very next day.

There are times when I try adding fun factor in my baked items. For instance last week when I was playing Angry Birds in my phone, suddenly it struck me why not I prepare a bread which looks like piglets face? That moment onwards I started to work on it and by the time my child came home from school, the breads were ready?

Ingredients:1/2 cup LUKE WARM WATER2 tbsp Active dry yeast2 tsp Granulated Sugar2 cups of All purpose flour + little more for dusting1/4 cup Milk or more if needed2 tbsp Butter, melted2 tsp finely chopped garlic2 tbsp Olive oil + few tsp for greasing the trayA big pinch of SaltMethod:In a ceramic bowl add lukewarm water, sugar, yeast and mix together for a second. Leave this liquid for 15-18 minutes until slightly foamy and frothy, if not then your yeast is not alive and you need to start again with another packet of yeast.

Take a big mixing bowl and add flour, salt, melted butter and the yeast mixture and knead it until you have a smooth looking dough. Now add milk, chopped garlic and knead for another 10 minutes to make a smooth dough and elastic kind of dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface for another 2 minutes. Shape the dough into a neat ball and grease a separate big container to keep the dough (this step will ensure your dough will not stick to the container) and apply Olive oil from top. Cover the dough in a plastic wrap or with a clean kitchen towel and keep in a warm place for an hour.

Once doubled or tripled in size, deflat the dough by punching down the dough and knead it for some time. This step is done to roll out the air bubbles. Now roll the dough on a lightly surfaced platform and cut with round cutters. Roll it from one side to get an oval shape. Make a small slit on top and fold them to make ears, use peppercorns for the eyes. To make the snouts, cut 1 inch wide small circle with the remaining dough and fix it with egg white (works like a glue). To complete the look, use toothpicks and leave them for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile pre-heat Oven to 375 Degrees Fahrenheit, line a baking tray about 1 inch apart. Place these pig faces carefully with a flat broad spatula. Brush each face with egg yolk and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are crisp. Wrap in a clean towel for another 10 minutes, by following this step, your buns will be very soft.

He simply loved the look of the breads and innocently adds, “Ma, but where are the birds?” So I promised him that next time I’d prepare the birds as well and let him have them.Next day on my son's request I had made them again but this time I made them in bun shapes and it took me 20 minutes to bake.